National Republican Senatorial Cmte

March 9, 2015 | The Justice Department reportedly is on the brink of filing criminal corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) for allegedly pushing the interests of a Florida ophthalmologist in exchange for gifts and contributions. Menendez says he’s done nothing wrong, and that Salomon Melgen’s generosity over the years was spurred because the two are friends. Friends…

February 11, 2015 | We have no idea how many jobs are generated by federal elections, but we do know that some individuals and firms make a very good living from modern political campaigns. In fact, we can tell you just how well certain media companies, consultants, pollsters and others in the “election-industrial complex” are doing. In the 2014…

December 10, 2014 | The epitaph for the national political parties may have been written too soon. Yes, the 2002 McCain-Feingold law took away their unlimited soft money donations. And true, Citizens United and other court decisions left them feeling like 98-pound-weaklings as mighty super PACs and other outside groups sprung up around them and dominated the airwaves. But…

November 18, 2014 | With Monday’s announcement that Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) will lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, all four House and Senate party committee chairmanships are now filled heading into the 2016 election cycle. While a mix of skills lead to success in these slots, contributions from leadership PACs are often thought to enhance candidates’ chances…

October 29, 2014 | This Center for Responsive Politics report is part of #Money14, a series of independent reports exposing the role of money in American politics. Join us for an event around the fifth anniversary of Citizens United to hear more about the participating organizations’ innovative research and work together for a more inclusive, transparent, and participatory democracy.…

October 22, 2014 | Update 10/29/14: For several reasons, including the fact that we double-counted certain party expenditures, CRP has lowered its projection of the cost of the 2014 elections to $3.67 billion. Please see our updated release. Almost $4 billion will be spent for this year’s midterm election, the Center for Responsive Politics is projecting. That figure makes this year’s…

October 15, 2014 | A handful of individuals in 2014’s third quarter swept away any doubt that mega-donors writing massive checks would emerge following the Supreme Court’s decision to jettison overall contribution limits this spring. This morning, joint fundraising committees composed of dozens of campaign committees and party organizations filed their first disclosure reports revealing that each had received numerous six-figure…

September 17, 2014 | In the run-up to the 2012 elections, Republican candidates spent more on political contributions than their Democratic counterparts for the first time in a decade, transferring $54 million from candidate committees to parties or other candidates. On the Democratic side, similar transfers peaked at $76.3 million in the 2008 cycle, after growing steadily since 2002. Though…

September 2, 2014 | Americans who have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year to toss aside overall political contribution limits are one in a million. Actually, they’re slightly fewer than one in a million. Of the 318 million people in the U.S., a whopping 310 donors have given more than the total $123,200 they were allowed to…

August 11, 2014 | A plagiarism scandal that drove Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) to drop his re-election bid Thursday was a major blow to the Democratic Party, still intent on proving it can keep its majority in the Senate. It also constituted a major financial loss for Democrats who’d placed their bets on Walsh and saw them evaporate long…

July 3, 2014 | A version of this story was co-posted on Urbanalia. In New York state, legislative politics are more than a little counterintuitive. Democrats have a majority in the state Senate, but since the 2012 elections, a group of breakaway members of that party have lined up with Republicans to keep the chamber under GOP control. The…

June 13, 2014 | Though it has now come to a screeching finish, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)’s leadership position in the House has brought him enduring connections, political clout and insider knowledge — in other words, potent K Street cred. “He brings incredible contacts with the whole Republican caucus in both houses” of Congress, said Ivan H. Adler, a…

May 29, 2014 | With the vote set for Tuesday, a former underdog is now benefiting from major national endorsements and much of the outside spending in Iowa’s Republican Senate primary. In the weeks since State Sen. Joni Ernst cut through the clutter of the five-way race with a campaign ad touting her pork-cutting experience, she has gathered support from all corners of the…

May 21, 2014 | The results are in: Big donors reacted quickly to the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision last month, busting the previous caps on how much they could give overall to candidate campaigns, parties and PACs. A cursory review of new filings by several national party groups show that major donors blew past the previous limits, which until the April…

May 5, 2014 | Some cracks are showing in the conservative movement’s money machine in Nebraska. The GOP primary race for Nebraska’s open Senate seat has attracted nearly $2 million dollars in outside spending — a lot of scratch for a state with an inexpensive media market. Four outside spending groups dedicated solely to this race have emerged in the last…

January 15, 2014 | In anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to look at the deep-pocketed donors who could give even more if the justices strike down another limit on the amount of money in U.S. politics.

March 25, 2013 | Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is creating a shadow money group to push for immigration reform. The billionaire's new nonprofit will be backed by a number of other executives and a team of bipartisan consultants with powerful connections.

December 10, 2012 | Mitt Romney went to Vegas to attend a fight, but Sheldon Adelson wasn't by his side. The MGM Grand, where the fight took place, is actually a big Democratic donor. Also, Charlie Crist makes it official at the White House.

November 8, 2012 | Nine races are still officially undecided, though news outlets have begun calling some of them. Also, six-term incumbent Joe Baca may have fallen due to Mayor Bloomberg's super PAC. And could Ashley Judd beat Mitch McConnell?

November 7, 2012 | President Barack Obama clinched a second term last night relying on many of the same campaign finance tools he used in his pre-Citizens United victory in 2008: party support and an in-house campaign finance operation that turned to individual donors and a web of elite bundlers to expand its reach. He received comparatively little help from outside spending groups.
But that's not to say super PACs and secretive nonprofit groups had no influence on the election -- although they heavily favored conservative candidates, many of whom lost, they created an arms race that helped drive the cost of election to record levels.

November 1, 2012 | Virginia's Senate race has proved to be much more than a barometer for national sentiment about Democrats and Republicans. With the help of outside spending, its cost is approaching $70 million, making it the nation's most expensive so far.

October 25, 2012 | True to tradition, labor unions are solidly behind President Obama and other Democrats, and their contributions show it. Nonetheless, they worry about the post-election season and whether the Dems will cut Social Security and Medicare.

October 17, 2012 | With support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and a board laden with well-connected luminaries of GOP fundraising, the Republican Jewish Coalition is making a strong push to turn just enough Jews against Obama to deny him re-election.

October 3, 2012 | Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon doesn't need the support of a super PAC, and she doesn't need to hold $500-a-head fundraisers. She has her very own deep pockets -- though she's dipped into them for far less cash than she did in 2010 and has spent the money more wisely, which has kept her Senate race with Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy very, very competitive.

August 10, 2012 | We've had some fun here at OpenSecrets Blog pitting K Street's top power players against each other in Washington's Influence Olympics. But in all seriousness, politics has always been very much a part of the Olympic Games. The United States Olympic Committee itself is no stranger to Washington, spending millions on lobbying over the years; and several members of its board of directors are active Democratic and Republican donors.

June 18, 2012 | One hundred twenty-seven years ago yesterday, the Statute of Liberty arrived on American shores. In the decades that followed, more than 12 million immigrants passed by, looking to her as a symbol of hope and freedom -- including the freedom to write checks to politicians.

June 12, 2012 | If campaign donations facilitate access to power, a select group of Washington lobbyists will be scheduling many meetings on Capitol Hill after the 2012 elections. These deep-pocketed individuals regularly donate the maximum allowable amount of money to federal candidates (currently $117,000 per 2-year cycle). Today, the Center is releasing a new feature, displaying the top 25 lobbyist contributors to federal candidates, parties and outside spending groups.

May 9, 2012 | Embattled Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, embroiled in a corporate governance scandal, has invested heavily in Washington. As regulators probe his activities, he may be hoping those campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures bring a good return.

May 2, 2012 | OpenSecrets.org data shows that Walmart employees plus the company's political action committee pour cash into the coffers of both parties. But a closer glance finds that Walmart's founding family heavily favors the GOP.

April 19, 2012 | The music industry a whole has long been a solid supporter of the Democratic Party. See what musicians are giving money in this election cycle, and who has given the most among musicians.

February 24, 2012 | An Obama fundraiser at the Orlando home of a Dallas Mavericks star last night wasn't the only evidence that NBA players and owners know how to play politics. They've contributed $2.6 million to federal candidates and political committees since 2009, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, and have shown a strong preference for Democrats.

January 5, 2012 | With all the attention focused on the GOP presidential horserace coming out of the Iowa caucuses, there are plenty of political stories going untold in the naked city.
One of the biggest may be the success the Democrats' congressional fundraising arms has had with small donors.

November 16, 2011 | Chicago hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who served as one of President Barack Obama's top fund-raisers four years ago, says he won't be backing Obama again this election. Instead, he'll be fueling an on-again, off-again love affair with the GOP and raising money to help elect Mitt Romney.

November 7, 2011 | The chairman and largest stakeholder of social media deal-finder Groupon, which went public Friday, is a big-time donor to Democratic causes, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

October 28, 2011 | Ron Conway, the man behind the YouTube hit "Ed Lee is 2 Legit 2 Quit" has actually given more money to Republican candidates and groups -- about 70 percent of the $246,000 he's donated at the federal level over the years.

October 7, 2011 | A new season means a fresh start for teams like the Houston Texans. Not only is the NFL's newest team the favorite to win its division for the first time, the team ranks as the most politically active since January 2009, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

September 30, 2011 | Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney met privately with Wall Street titan Jamie Dimon earlier this week. Dimon is the chief executive officer of the world's largest public company, JPMorgan Chase, and is a prolific political donor, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. He is, in other words, a great person to have on your side in a presidential race.

September 19, 2011 | Actor Alec Baldwin made headlines over the weekend for a joke involving the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal, which was cut by network officials before it made it to the airwaves during the Emmys. Baldwin's political contributions indicate he leans Democratic, unlike Fox and News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

September 16, 2011 | A bill (H.R. 2587) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday that aims to prevent the National Labor Relations Board from ordering companies to close or relocate employees.

September 14, 2011 | A report released last week by the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, which uses data from the Center for Responsive Politics, argues that to President Barack Obama's attempts to reduce the influence of lobbyists in Washington have instead led to decreased transparency and harmed the public interest.

September 13, 2011 | Earlier this year, three donations of $1 million each were given to a super PAC supportive of the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The super PAC was called Restore Our Future. These large sums may not in and of themselves have raised eyebrows. But the identities of the donors certainly did.

September 12, 2011 | Twenty-three corporations -- including AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Koch Industries -- compose the ALEC's "private enterprise board." On the national level, these companies have been mustering a juggernaut of lobbyists to target congressional initiatives and donating extensively to a number of candidates.

September 9, 2011 | Erskine Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and political jack-of-all-trades, will join the board of directors of Facebook. Bowles brings a variety of experience to the social media giant, including co-chairing President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission last year and serving as president of the University of North Carolina system.

August 17, 2011 | The 12 members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction won't be legislating in a vacuum: They bring with them ties to particular industries and loyalties to particular issues.

July 29, 2011 | At least 27 percent of the $582,100 Santorum raised through June 30 has come from residents of the Keystone State, according to a preliminary analysis of campaign finance filings by the Center for Responsive Politics.

July 25, 2011 | Two dozen Floridians have collectively bundled at least $3.55 million for President Barack Obama's re-election efforts, including 15 individuals who did not bundle money on Obama's behalf during his 2008 presidential campaign. Among some of the high-profile new names on the list? Democratic operative Ben Pollara, businessman Stephen Bittel and trial lawyer John Morgan.

July 22, 2011 | Dr. Syed Fai made $28,790 in contributions since the 1990 election cycle, research by the Center for Responsive Politics indicates. He made contributions on both sides of the aisle, but the top recipient of his cash was Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who chairs the Congressional Pakistan Caucus and is the third highest ranking Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

July 21, 2011 | Since the 1990 election cycle, media mogul Rupert Murdoch has contributed about $750,000 to federal candidates and political committees, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. Of that sum, 80 percent -- or $600,200 -- has benefited Republicans.

July 12, 2011 | Cliff Asness, the founding and managing partner of hedge fund AQR Capital, and Rutgers University professor Susan Feinberg may have irreconcilable differences about a $350 bottle of wine at Washington D.C.'s Bistro Bis, but they once found common ground in the campaign of President Barack Obama. Furthermore, during the 2010 election cycle, Cliff and his wife Laurel Asness also donated $7,666 to the leadership PAC of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), with whom he was spotted sharing an expensive meal by Feinberg.

July 8, 2011 | Koch Industries has not taken kindly to a request from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to contribute money to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Murray chairs. Koch Industries, an oil and gas industry giant, primarily supports the Republican Party, but Murray was correct in noting past support from the company.

June 21, 2011 | Retail giant Wal-Mart -- which won a sweeping victory from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday in a class-action lawsuit that alleged discrimination against its women employees -- has long preferred men when it comes to doling out its campaign cash.

April 29, 2011 | Unlike political committees or candidates for federal office, the Democratic Governors Association and Republican Governors Association both may receive unlimited amounts of money in their bids to support gubernatorial candidates across the nation. And raise cash they did.

April 5, 2011 | "In politics money = access," a donation solicitation from the Physician Hospitals of America obtained by OpenSecrets Blog states as one of five reasons to financially support the organization's political action committee. "We need access to our politicians to educate them about who we are, what we provide, why we exist and how we benefit patients, physicians, communities and the healthcare industry."

March 21, 2011 | Republican Tim Pawlenty, the former two-term governor of Minnesota, has decided to explore a run for the U.S. presidency. "Join the team," he said in a message on Facebook, "and together, we'll restore America."

March 2, 2011 | During 2009 and 2010, labor unions reported spending a combined $46.7 million on messaging designed to aide their preferred federal political candidates, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. This figure represents 16 percent of all such spending by non-party committees -- the lowest amount in years.

February 25, 2011 | Before the subprime mortgage meltdown, accusations of fraud and insider trading and congressional investigations into his VIP mortgage program, Countrywide Chairman Angelo Mozilo was a generous campaign donor. Between January 1989 and June 2008 -- when Mozilo left Countrywide -- he donated about $120,000 to federal candidates and committees, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance records.

January 26, 2011 | Regardless of what Baldwin's future brings, his past and present is marked by notably high and sustained levels of political giving, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal campaign finance data.

December 9, 2010 | While headlines touted Space Exploration Technologies' unmanned space journey as a giant leap away from large governments dominating the heavens -- only the governments of the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and the European Union previously accomplished such a feat -- the company is hardly shielding itself from politics.

December 2, 2010 | In the closing stretch of the 2010 midterm elections, American Crossroads raised a staggering $3.8 million, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of the group's "post-general" campaign finance report, which was filed with the Federal Election Commission Thursday. Since its founding in March, American Crossroads has now raised $28 million.

December 2, 2010 | Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) lawmakers have been in Congress for at least two decades, and have plenty influence to show for it. Political watchers are prepared for the rivals -- their positions switched -- to resume their sparring in January. OpenSecrets Blog, meanwhile, details who may have the key political advantages as the curtain opens on the 112th Congress.

November 30, 2010 | The years leading up to the 2010 midterm election have been an important stretch for gay rights advocates, but you wouldn't necessarily know it by gauging the amount of money invested this cycle by gay and lesbian rights groups and their donors.

November 29, 2010 | NEW LIBERAL SUPER PAC GEARS UP FOR 2012: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend -- the daughter of slain senator and one-time presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy -- is calling on Democrats to "build an understanding of what's at stake" in 2012 by gearing up for an outside spending battle during the upcoming presidential election cycle.

October 30, 2010 | Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a moderate Democrat, and Republican Ken Buck, his Tea Party-fueled challenger, don't have much in common when it comes to public policy. But they share the common distinction of having more attacks ads run against them than they themselves have spent campaigning, the Center for Responsive Politics finds.

October 27, 2010 | On Tuesday, nearly four dozen outside groups spent a staggering $38.2 million on independent expenditures across the country. It's one of the largest single influxes of outside money flowing into political ads this year, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

October 26, 2010 | Spending by outside groups may help determine the re-election chances of incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski who's battling for her political life in the nation's Last Frontier.

October 26, 2010 | Aside from the surprise last-minute Democratic comeback, the Colorado Senate race is also notable for another reason -- the contest has drawn far more outside spending than any other congressional race in the country this election cycle, attracting more than $29.6 million in outside funding so far through Monday, including $25 million for the general election alone.

October 25, 2010 | Various conservative straw polls from this year have put Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich on top as voter favorites. Although primaries don't begin for another 16 months, potential candidates are already laying groundwork for possible presidential runs.
In the meantime, OpenSecrets Blog explores the financial activities during the 2009-2010 election cycle of the politicos who are angling to challenge President Barack Obama in the next presidential election.

October 22, 2010 | American Crossroads and its sister organization Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies have together spent about $18 million on independent expenditures during the first 21 days of October, most of that on television advertisements and mailings in top-tier U.S. Senate races.

October 20, 2010 | In the run up to the 2010 midterm elections, Soros joins a handful of young, emerging political heavyweights, many of whom are related to other prolific political donors. And they're helping tip the scales toward Democrats in the competition for students' campaign cash, the Center's analysis indicates.

October 19, 2010 | BP's PAC did not write a single check to federal lawmakers in September, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance documents filed today. In fact, the PAC has not donated a dime to any federal lawmakers since May.

October 18, 2010 | As enthusiasm among conservatives surges, embattled Democrats may be placing their faith in the old Washington maxim that money delivers success on Election Day. That's because heading into the final weeks of the campaign season, Democrats -- not Republicans -- maintained a financial edge in the most competitive House races across the country, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

October 4, 2010 | Dollars spent on lobbying are set to increase over all other years if spending remains on its current course. And in context of 2010 congressional campaigns, the top lobbyist-funded House and Senate candidates have received more than $9 million to fuel their campaigns.

September 20, 2010 | Whether you call it a "527 committee," an "independent expenditure-only committee" or a "super PAC," the conservative outfit American Crossroads continued to demonstrate its fund-raising prowess in August.

September 14, 2010 | No fewer than 235 people that identified themselves on government documents as journalists, or as working for news organizations, have together donated more than $469,900 to federal political candidates, committees and parties during the 2010 election cycle, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates. Aboute two-thirds of this sum has benefited Democrats.

September 11, 2010 | More than three dozen individuals have explicitly listed their occupation has "meteorologist" on campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission since January 2009, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis. These 40 meteorologists donated $33,400 to federal candidates, parties and committees so far this cycle -- an average of $835 per person.

September 5, 2010 | After many moons of financial second-fiddledom, national Democratic political committees find their fortunes waxing during the final weeks before crucial midterm elections in which Republicans hope to recapture numerous congressional seats.

September 3, 2010 | A Washington, D.C.-based interior decorator faces a felony fraud charge brought by the Department of Justice. But Darlene Mathis-Gardner, president and founder of Systems Design Inc., is not just any interior decorator.

August 26, 2010 | How did Republican attorney Joe Miller make such a comeback against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski? One thing is for sure, Miller benefited from the financial support of the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, a political operation run by the Tea Party Express.

August 25, 2010 | In the final hours before primary election day, a shadowy new political group is comparing Louisiana Democratic Congressional candidate Cedric Richmond to a comic book villain and accusing him of committing all seven deadly sins. Want to know who's funding the attack? Too bad.

August 19, 2010 | American Crossroads, which some have dubbed the "shadow Republican National Committee," is at the vanguard of political entities that are taking advantage of the new campaign finance landscape in the wake of January's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that lifted restrictions on corporate cash in political advertisements.

August 11, 2010 | The Florida political operative who was the finance director of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign in the Sunshine State has created a political committee to tout the Senate candidacy of Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) using unlimited contributions, the Center for Responsive Politics has learned.

August 9, 2010 | Angle, to date, hasn't raised a dime from any corporate PAC, but according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis, she has taken at least $8,900 from leaders of companies known to offer employee benefits to same-sex spouses or that operate in jurisdictions that recognize marriage between same-sex couples.

July 27, 2010 | President Barack Obama Monday took to the bully pulpit to urge passage of the DISCLOSE Act -- and to criticize Senate Republicans for their staunch opposition to the measure that's aimed at improving campaign finance transparency.

July 13, 2010 | George Steinbrenner, who died after suffering a heart attack Tuesday morning, owned the New York Yankees since 1973. Steinbrenner's history with politics is as long as his history with baseball. In 1974, he pled guilty to making illegal contributions to President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign two years prior -- an action for which he later received a presidential pardoned. Additionally, he, along with his wife, contributed more than $196,000 to federal candidates and committees since 1989.

June 8, 2010 | The company that owns a pipeline that exploded Monday in north Texas, Houston-based Enterprise Products Company, is on pace spent more on federal lobbying this year than any other year they've lobbied the federal government, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of lobbying reports.

May 19, 2010 | Massive campaign war chests and establishment endorsements were not enough to be victorious in some of the country's most contested Senate primaries Tuesday night. One sitting Senator was defeated and another is heading to a run-off in three weeks, as candidates worked to distance themselves from Washington and position themselves as crusaders against special interests in charged anti-incumbent environments.

May 17, 2010 | Despite long odds, insurgent candidates have challenged senators in Arkansas and Pennsylvania, and now these two sitting Democratic senators risk being ousted Tuesday by disgruntled voters. Challenges in each state have gained steam thanks to enthusiasm among the Democratic base, with some liberal activists and unions defying the Democratic Party establishment and bucking even the political operation of the White House.

May 13, 2010 | NEW BRITISH GOVERNMENT AGREES TO LOBBYING REFORM: Among the legislative priorities the new coalition government in the United Kingdom has agreed to pursue is regulation of federal lobbying, and possible campaign finance reform measures.

May 4, 2010 | MURTHA MONEY DONATED TO NAMESAKE FOUNDATION: Democratic candidates hoping to receive a share of the remaining campaign money of the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) will have to look elsewhere -- Murtha's wife has decided to donate it all to the John P. Murtha Foundation instead, reports Politico.

April 27, 2010 | Retiring Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), the chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, is taking heat for racking up travel expenses on the taxpayer's dime, according to Roll Call. Gordon announced he was retiring in December, but has since visited or plans to visit Denmark, Italy, France, Switzerland and China -- all on official business and paid for by taxpayers.

April 20, 2010 | Government allegations that financial giant Goldman Sachs defrauded investors are creating a political storm, with some lawmakers hoping that the civil lawsuit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission is just the beginning.

April 16, 2010 | With Massey Energy employees contributing nearly $37,000 to federal politicians and committees so far this cycle, might any of the beneficiaries of this cash share President Barack Obama's harsh view of the company?

April 6, 2010 | Massey Energy, owner of a West Virginia coal mine where an explosion Monday killed at least 25 miners, has long involved itself in federal-level politics through campaign contributions and lobbying efforts, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

April 6, 2010 | Duke University edged out Butler 61-59 last night to take the national college basketball title, the team's first since 2001. The Bulldogs put up a tough fight, but would they have triumphed had the Big Dance been based on federal lobbying expenditures?

March 31, 2010 | In the hotly contested special election that sent Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate, Brown and his opponent, Democrat Martha Coakley, squeezed their fund-raising efforts into a rapid scramble for money that lasted just weeks, not months.

March 25, 2010 | CORPORATION ON THE ATTACK IN TEXAS: Deep in the heart of Texas, election observers have spotted what may be the first corporate-funded independent advertisement against a politician post-Citizens United.

March 1, 2010 | President Barack Obama announced new appointees to the Bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform on Friday. All of the nominees are successful and influential in their respective fields, as well as politically connected and well acquainted to the world of money-in-politics. Combined, Obama's six appointees to the commission have contributed nearly $750,000 to federal candidates, parties and political action committees over the last two decades, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.

February 3, 2010 | With the campaign finance world still trying to sort out the aftermath of Citizens United v. FEC, Marc Ambinder over at The Atlantic makes an interesting observation about the potential for corporate spending to surpass that of political parties.

January 27, 2010 | ANTI-ACORN ACTIVIST ARRESTED IN FAILED ATTEMPT TO WIRETAP SENATOR: Conservative activist and filmmaker James O'Keefe and three others were arrested Monday during a failed attempt to wiretap the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The four men apparently posed as utility repairmen.

December 7, 2009 | Might a decision by the Supreme Court to allow unlimited corporate expenditures during elections whet congressional appetite for public financing? On Friday, two high-ranking Democratic lawmakers predicted that yes, it might.

December 3, 2009 | Insurance giant AIG's political clout is waning as fast as its finances. Since its near-collapse and government bailout last fall, AIG disbanded its lobbying team. It hasn't donated a dollar from its political action committee this year. Furthermore, contributions from individual AIG employees since January are merely a sliver of what they've been in previous cycles -- although a few notable politicians retain financial or political ties to the embattled company. Among these lawmakers is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, who pledged to return contributions from AIG employees who got post-bailout bonuses but has nonetheless retained tens of thousands of dollars from them given before the bailout.

November 18, 2009 | Like Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton before him, President Barack Obama continues to reward donors, fund-raisers and other loyalists with plum diplomatic posts. The two-dozen bundlers elevated by Obama to serve as ambassadors raised a minimum of $10.7 million for Obama's committees, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.

November 9, 2009 | Attorney Roxanne Conlin today announced her intention to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), providing the veteran lawmaker with some notable and potentially well-financed competition. With a strong pedigree in Iowa politics, she brings supporters with deep pockets, and the ability to draw on her own personal wealth. A CRP analysis shows that Conlin, and her husband, James, have contributed nearly $360,000 to federal candidates and committees over the past 20 years.

November 6, 2009 | It hasn't been three days since former Hewlett-Packard honcho Carly Fiorina formally announced she'd run for U.S. Senate in California, and already, some folks in the Republican Party are accusing her of being, well ... too moderate.

October 28, 2009 | Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig would never – never! -- think of rooting for the New York Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2009 World Series, which begins tonight at Yankees Stadium. But Selig is hardly agnostic when politics are concerned. The political action committee controlled by his office finds itself in a decidedly New York state of mind, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal campaign finance data.

October 15, 2009 | Politically connected ambassadors will soon represent the United States in Hungary and New Zealand. President Barack Obama has nominated philanthropist and real estate developer Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis to be ambassador to Hungary, while he nominated lawyer David Huebner to serve as the nation's top diplomat in New Zealand and Samoa. The Center for Responsive Politics has found that both Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis and Huebner have been active donors to federal politicians over the past 20 years.

October 8, 2009 | Despite a lack of support from key leaders in his own political party, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) said resolutely this week that he has no plans to resign from Congress in the face of accusations that he's deeply embroiled in an ethics scandal. But it's not just his own party's support at risk -- campaign contributors, current and former staffers and even lobbyists may be re-considering their ties to a man who once served as the GOP's primary fund-raiser in the Senate.

September 16, 2009 | Linda McMahon, the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, announced today she's seeking the Republican Party's nomination to upset incumbent Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). But McMahon's history is hardly that of a hardcore Republican. She and her husband have contributed nearly $90,000 to federal candidates and committees since 1989, with 51 percent going to Democrats.

September 11, 2009 | Florida's Republican governor, Charlie Crist, tapped his former chief of staff and long-time adviser, George LeMieux, to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy left by the early retirement of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Over the years, LeMieux, and wife, Meike, have also occasionally made campaign contributions to Crist.

August 18, 2009 | Democratic Party committees raised only slightly more than their Republican counterparts during the year's first six months, closing the gap between the two parties that existed during the 2008 election cycle.

July 10, 2009 | President Obama's latest ambassador nominee, Philip Murphy, and his wife have contributed nearly $1.5 million to federal candidates, committees and parties since 1989, according to a CRP analysis. They also contributed an additional $100,000 to Obama's inauguration committee.

June 3, 2009 | Although being the No. 3 recipient of campaign cash from the energy sector didn't help former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) win his re-election campaign in 2006, those connections will likely come in handy in his latest gig: head of a new energy lobby.

February 19, 2009 | Swiss bank UBS AG agreed today to pay $780 million to settle claims by the U.S. Department of Treasury that it helped American customers evade paying taxes by hiding their Swiss bank accounts from U.S. tax authorities. But that's not the only help that UBS has provided Americans. In the 2008 election cycle, the foreign bank contributed $3.1 million to federal candidates, parties and PACs.

February 18, 2009 | As the story behind the embattled investment company Stanford Financial Group develops, we thought we'd take an even closer look at the seeds the company may have tried to plant in Washington via campaign contributions. When looking at ALL lawmakers to collect money from the company's PAC and employees (not just members of the current Congress), some additional, important names appear at the top of the recipient list.

August 14, 2008 | Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

June 16, 2008 | Republican party committees are currently collecting more overall than their Democratic counterparts, but the traditional money gap between the two is closing, according to a new report from the Federal Election Commission.

Count Cash & Make Change.

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